1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications equipment and, in particular, to apparatus for multi-level control of signals in telephone headsets and handsets.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The telephone system is more widely used now than ever before. The increasing convenience and economics of its use make it possible not only to convey information readily, but also to open its use to all social and economic levels. However, the increased use of the system has magnified some of its hazards.
Transient, impulse and large continuous noise tones appear within the telephone system. These tones may be caused by systems testing, power crosses, misdialed calls to facsimile machines or computer modems, lightning stikes or a variety of other events. Although the probability of experiencing the annoyance and surprise of these occurrences has increased, they have not generally been considered a hazard with a telephone handset. A telephone handset is typically held in the user's hand and can be quickly removed from the user's ear if uncomfortable noise levels are encountered. However, this is not the case with telephone headsets.
Because a telephone headset is worn by its user and cannot be quickly removed from the user's ear, noise level standards have been developed to protect the user. Institutions that use a large number of telephones usually require noise protection devices in all telephone headsets. Furthermore, headsets with volume controls are required to incorporate automatic gain control (AGC) circuitry for limiting the amplitude of the earphone speaker output by some headset users.
To properly protect against continuous noise, the U.S Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established a 95 dBA limit for a signal exposure of 4.0 hours per day. This is the estimated on-line time of a telephone operator during an average 8 hour shift based on telephone industry data. The designation "dBA" is 20 times the log of a sound level with respect to 20 microPascals, which is `A` weighted and time averaged.
To protect against continuous high-level sound signals, AGC circuitry is normally adjusted so that the earphone speaker output will not exceed 95 dBSPL. The term "dBSPL" refers to "sound pressure level", which is the same as "dBA" except that the `A` weighting curve is removed along with the time averaging. Limiting sound to a dBSPL rating is easily accomplished by the use of AGC circuitry with peak detecting control.
Within the difference between the "dBA" and "dBSPL" sound ratings, there lies a problem. The "dBA" limit allows for the acoustic peaks and valleys that normally occur in speech by virtue of its time averaging feature. However, the peak detection methods required by the "dBSPL" circuits do not. The crest factor of a continuous sine wave is 1.414, whereas the crest factor of normal speech may exceed 5 (the "crest factor" can simply be described as the ratio of a waveform's "peak" value to the "rms" value).
Because of the crest factor, AGC circuitry will limit human voice signals to a level far below 95 dBA. User safety with respect to peaks and continuous sound is preserved with this limit, but the level of human voice output signal from the earphone speaker in normal environments is difficult to understand. This has its own deleterious effect by adding user stress because of the strain required to hear the signal and by decreasing productivity due to the repeated questions and statements required during conversations.
The optimum solution is to limit voice and continuous signals equally to 95 dBA. However, the crest factor of the two signal types does not allow an easily integratable peak detecting limiter circuit to be utilized.
Prior art techniques utilize variable gain circuitry that can be controlled by automatic means through a feedback control voltage. According to these techniques, when a signal is propagated through the amplifier, it is unaffected until the signal's instantaneous amplitude crosses the compression threshold. A feedback control voltage is then generated which forces the amplifier gain to decrease by a fixed amount. A peak detector is employed to aid in circuit integration. The attack time is limited to avoid "pops" or "clicks" from being generated by an abrupt gain change. A decay time from compression is also employed to maintain a relatively constant gain between syllables or utterances.
Other prior art techniques improve upon the above-described system by making the decay time dependant upon the amount of time the circuit is in compression. This method tends to run higher output levels because the short, normally occurring peaks in the voice only cause a short decay time. Therefore, the circuit returns to full gain in a shorter period of time.